Faculty, staff join student-led fundraiser for Haiti

Faculty, staff join student-led fundraiser for Haiti

The entire SMU community is responding to the disastrous earthquake in Haiti with a student-led relief campaign. SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti seeks to raise relief funds over a 3-week period through Feb. 15, 2010.

Students, faculty and staff members will have the opportunity to purchase a small paper heart for $5 and a larger heart for $10 in Umphrey Lee Center and the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The buyer can sign his or her name to the heart, which will then be displayed in the Student Center. Donations of every size will be accepted, and Pony Express funds may be used to give to the effort.

Patrick Kobler, student body president, and seniors Nicola Muchnikoff and Rachel Carey came up with the idea before the spring term started.

“We just felt the magnitude of the situation is such that we had to do something as a student body and a community,” Kobler says. “The news has been so dire, and the need has been so great, and we at SMU are so lucky – we need to get involved.”

Kobler contacted Faculty Senate President Fred Olness and Staff Association President Alison Tweedy to help coordinate a campuswide effort.

“The Senate will work to spread the word about the Haiti fund-raiser so our community can provide broad support for Haitians in need,” Olness says.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea and opportunity for the entire SMU community to work together,” Tweedy says. “I hope everyone will participate and give what they can.”

Faculty and staff members will earn one Wellpower Spirit Point for their donation to the student campaign, says Mary Stall, HR specialist in organizational effectiveness in SMU’s Department of Human Resources.

Cash and checks will be accepted; checks should be made out to “SMU’s Heart Beats for Haiti.” Checks may be sent by mail to Lydia Dale, SMU Box 750436, Dallas TX 75275-0436.